RICHARD PAUL EVANS WROTE IT, PUBLISHED IT AND PROMOTED IT. NOW HIS CHRISTMAS FABLE IS MAKING HIM A RICH AND BUSY MAN

WRITING A BEST SELLER is one of the few ways left to get rich solely on your own efforts. Just ask Richard Paul Evans, who has plenty of reason to celebrate this holiday season. His novella, The Christmas Box, an inspirational Christmas story he originally published himself, is sitting at or near the top of the nation's best-seller lists, with more than 2 million copies in print. A TV-movie version starring Maureen O'Hara and Richard Thomas will air Sunday on CBS. And a prequel will arrive in bookstores in time for Easter and Mother's Day.